Biden faces growing doubts from Democrats about his 2024 re-election
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[July 03, 2024]
By Steve Holland, Moira Warburton and Jeff Mason
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Some elected Democrats loyal to President Joe
Biden raised fresh questions on Tuesday about his 2024 re-election bid,
with one calling for him to step aside, a shift after many defended him
in the wake of last week's shaky debate performance.
Whether Biden continues his 2024 bid for president after his halting
debate performance against Republican presidential candidate Donald
Trump is largely his decision, Democrats and political strategists have
said.
But Biden is under pressure. Some donors have called for him to step
aside, and other Democrats are worrying openly that he is not equipped
to beat Trump in November.
There are 25 Democratic members of the House of Representatives
preparing to call for Biden to step aside if he seems shaky in coming
days, according to one House Democratic aide.
A second House Democratic aide said moderate House Democrats in
competitive districts - often called "frontliners" - were getting
hammered with questions in their districts this week.
A Reuters/Ipsos poll taken after the debate showed one in three
Democrats think Biden should end his re-election bid.
U.S. Representative Lloyd Doggett became the first congressional
Democrat to call for Biden to withdraw from the presidential race on
Tuesday. He told NBC News in an interview that he hoped other Democratic
lawmakers would follow his lead.
"It looks like the dam has broken," the second aide said.
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Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi emphasized Biden's multiple
legislative accomplishments during an interview with MSNBC Tuesday but
said it was legitimate to ask whether his debate performance was a
one-night thing or a broader health problem. She said Trump should be
given the same scrutiny.
"I think it's a legitimate question to say, 'Is this an episode or is
this a condition?' And so when people ask that question, it's
legitimate, of both candidates," Pelosi said.
Immediately after the debate, Pelosi had shown strong support. "Joe
Biden’s decision to go forward is a decision that we will all embrace
because of the record he has and the performance that will come with
it," she said then.
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said on Tuesday that
Biden did not have an "episode," just a bad night.
Vice President Kamala Harris, asked in a CBS News interview about
Doggett's demand, said: "Look, Joe Biden is our nominee. We beat Trump
once and we're gonna beat him. Period."
Biden, speaking at a campaign event in Virginia on Tuesday evening
without a teleprompter, blamed his performance on a lack of sleep and
said his campaign had raised $38 million since the debate.
“The fact is that you know, I wasn’t very smart. I decided to travel
around the world a couple times, going through around 100 time zones ...
before ... the debate. Didn’t listen to my staff and came back and
nearly fell asleep on stage," he said. "That's no excuse but it is an
explanation.”
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![](../images/070324PIX/news_p35.jpg)
U.S. President Joe Biden speaks during a briefing from federal
officials on extreme weather at the D.C. Emergency Operations Center
in Washington, U.S., July 2, 2024. REUTERS/Elizabeth Frantz
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Some Democrats suggested Biden should be thinking about the broader
party's future.
"He has to be honest with himself," Democratic Representative Mike
Quigley, a moderate from Illinois, told CNN on Tuesday. "It's his
decision. I just want him to appreciate at this time just how much
it impacts, not just his race, but all the other races coming in
November."
U.S. Representative Jim Clyburn, the Democrat often credited with
securing Biden's nomination in the 2020 presidential race, told
MSNBC Tuesday he would support Vice President Kamala Harris to be
the Democratic nominee if Biden stepped aside.
Representative Jared Golden, a Maine Democrat, predicted on Tuesday
that Trump would win the election, as did Washington state
Democratic Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez.
BIDEN TO TALK TO GOVERNORS, CONGRESS
The president and his campaign are scrambling to bolster support.
Biden will hold a meeting with Democratic governors virtually and in
person at the White House on Wednesday and speak to lawmakers this
week, White House officials said.
One of the House Democratic aides said members were disappointed
about the lack of outreach thus far.
Doggett told NBC News he had asked the White House to speak
personally with Biden about his call for him to drop out, but had
not heard back from him.
Biden's campaign held difficult phone calls on Sunday and Monday
with important funders who questioned his plans to stay in the race.
Asked Tuesday why Biden had not done more media interviews or press
conferences after his debate raised questions, Jean-Pierre pointed
to his visit to a Waffle House in Atlanta on the evening of the
debate and subsequent interactions with supporters.
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Biden is scheduled to do an interview with ABC this week and plans
to hold a news conference at the NATO summit next week. The
Democratic Hill aide said a lot was riding on the ABC interview,
with lawmakers looking to see that he can handle rapid-fire
questions and not just orchestrated campaign appearances.
Meanwhile, Biden's campaign said it and its Democratic allies raised
$264 million in the second quarter, including $127 million in June
and a record "grassroots" fundraising haul on the day of Biden's
debate.
(Reporting by Steve Holland, Moira Warburton, Jeff Mason and Andrea
Shalal in Washington; Additional reporting by Richard Cowan and
Jason Lange; Editing by Heather Timmons and Stephen Coates)
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